Legal notice

Art. 1Scope

These general terms and conditions apply to all services provided by SAVENTIS SRL, trading under the name “JANSSENS Law Firm” (hereinafter “JANSSENS Law Firm”), a company registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE) under number BE 0439.722.081, to its Clients. Each time a Client uses its services, the Client is deemed to know and accept these general terms and conditions without reservation. Any general terms of the Client apply only subject to the express, prior and written acceptance of JANSSENS Law Firm. Any addition, modification or derogation must be expressly and previously accepted in writing by JANSSENS Law Firm. Unless JANSSENS Law Firm publishes or communicates, in any form whatsoever, a more recent version, these general terms and conditions shall also apply to all future relationships between the parties.

Art. 2Recourse to other lawyers

JANSSENS Law Firm may, at its discretion and without the Client being able to object, call upon any lawyer, even outside the firm, to carry out certain specific tasks.

Art. 3Obligation of means

JANSSENS Law Firm, as well as all the lawyers working on its behalf, are bound by an obligation of means; they undertake to perform their services with all customary care and in accordance with the rules of the legal profession. The Client's active cooperation is always essential; the Client shall immediately inform JANSSENS Law Firm, by email, of any matter and/or document relevant to the file.

JANSSENS Law Firm further undertakes to perform its services within reasonable time limits and, where specific time limits have been agreed, to make reasonable efforts to comply with them. Neither JANSSENS Law Firm nor any of the lawyers working on its behalf may be held liable for any exceeding of time limits attributable to the Client, a third party or an event of force majeure.

Art. 4Professional secrecy

JANSSENS Law Firm, as well as all the lawyers working on its behalf, are bound by professional secrecy. Moreover, all letters, opinions, expert reports, reports, procedural documents and other documents transmitted to the Client are provided on the express condition that the Client respects their confidentiality. The Client may transmit their content to third parties only with the express, prior and written agreement of JANSSENS Law Firm.

Art. 5Intellectual property

The letters, opinions, expert reports, reports, procedural documents and other documents emanating from JANSSENS Law Firm are protected by intellectual property rights; they may be used or reproduced only with the express, prior and written agreement of JANSSENS Law Firm. They are specific to a Client, to a particular moment and to a given situation; they may not be transposed to other situations or to other persons without a fresh analysis by JANSSENS Law Firm.

Art. 6Liability

The liability, whether contractual or extra-contractual, of JANSSENS Law Firm and of all the lawyers working on its behalf, for any material or immaterial damage caused to the Client — such as, in particular, moral damage, loss of clientele, production, time, data or business opportunities — is limited to the amount of the cover provided by JANSSENS Law Firm's professional civil liability insurer and its fidelity (dishonesty) insurer, namely ETHIAS.

The Client indemnifies JANSSENS Law Firm, as well as the lawyers working on its behalf, against any claim by a third party brought as a result of the performance of an assignment for the benefit of the Client, except in the event of proven fault.

Art. 7Anti-money laundering (AML-CFT)

From the opening of the file and at regular intervals, the Client submits to the legal obligations arising from the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 18 September 2017 (AML-CFT), which aims to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Art. 8Third-party payer

From the opening of the file, the Client informs JANSSENS Law Firm of the potential intervention of a third-party payer. To this end, the Client shall provide JANSSENS Law Firm with all documents necessary for such intervention and communicate all relevant information. The intervention of a third-party payer, even partial, obliges the latter to accept these general terms and conditions without any reservation.

The Client acknowledges being duly informed that they remain liable for the costs, fees and disbursements invoiced by JANSSENS Law Firm beyond any intervention of the third-party payer.

Art. 9Advances on fees

JANSSENS Law Firm reserves the right to require the payment of an advance before performing any service. Advances constitute a guarantee intended to protect JANSSENS Law Firm against any default of payment. They are used only as and when billable services are carried out. Requests for additional advances may be sent to the Client, depending on the progress of the file and the extent of the work to be carried out. On closure of the file, a closing invoice is issued; if any advances remain on account, they are refunded.

Art. 10Payment and late payment

Unless expressly, previously and otherwise agreed in writing, all invoices of JANSSENS Law Firm are payable in cash and without discount, to bank account BE43 6451 0908 8861, within 8 days from the day following receipt of the invoice.

Any invoice or payment request unpaid at maturity shall give rise, automatically and without notice, to a first payment reminder constituting formal notice and a demand for payment. Failing settlement within 14 days, any invoice or payment request shall give rise to a fixed indemnity of 20 euros where the outstanding amount is less than or equal to 150 euros; of 30 euros plus 10% of the amount due on the tranche between 150.01 and 500 euros where the outstanding amount is between 150.01 and 500 euros; and of 65 euros plus 5% of the amount due on the tranche above 500 euros, up to a maximum of 2,000 euros, where the outstanding amount exceeds 500 euros; as well as to the application of late-payment interest equal to the rate set by the Act of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions, increased by eight points. In addition, all debts of JANSSENS Law Firm shall become immediately payable. In the context of the reciprocity of obligations, a private (non-professional) Client may invoke the benefit of this clause in their favour in the event of a breach by JANSSENS Law Firm established by a judgment having the force of res judicata.

Any unpaid amount shall be transmitted to our bailiffs responsible for obtaining, by all legal means, settlement of the debt. All recovery costs, amicable and judicial, by way of a bailiff, shall be borne by the debtor. These costs shall be calculated in accordance with the Royal Decree of 30 November 1976 setting the tariff of acts performed by bailiffs in civil and commercial matters as well as that of certain allowances (Belgian Official Gazette, 08.02.1977).

Art. 11Costs and fees

Payment or exchange costs are entirely borne by the Client. File opening and management costs are set at a flat rate of 50 euros. In no case may administrative costs be less than 20% of the amount of the fees (Opinion 2016-0182 of 22.05.2016). When invoiced per unit: administrative correspondence costs are 10 euros per typed page; photocopying costs are set at 0.50 euro per page; ordinary administrative costs of telephone, email and fax are set at a flat rate of 0.50 euro; travel costs are set at 0.65 euro per kilometre, calculated from the lawyer's actual point of departure, wherever it is located; the costs of closing and archiving the physical file are set at 50 euros. All amounts are exclusive of VAT.

The duties and disbursements paid to third parties (clerks, bailiffs, translators, experts, advisers and other parties) are invoiced at cost price.

Fees remunerate the work of consultations, correspondence, telephone conversations, meetings, expert assessments, study of files, research, preparation of hearing notes, applications, summonses, submissions and other procedural documents, appearances at hearings, travel, waiting times in courtrooms, as well as all other usual steps taken by the lawyer, including the operations necessary for invoicing.

The time for typing and sending a non-complex letter (simple letter, transmittal and copy) is uniformly counted at 10 minutes, some inevitably requiring more or less time than others. More complex letters (detailed reply, opinion, statements of governing facts, examination of a complaint or of a settlement proposal, etc.) are invoiced according to the time actually spent. The time for typing and sending a non-complex email is counted at 5 minutes. Hearing attendance time may not be less than 60 minutes.

Unless otherwise agreed between the Client and JANSSENS Law Firm, fees are invoiced on an hourly basis. The hourly rate of legal practice is variable; it is set according to the importance, urgency and/or difficulty of the file, as well as according to the stakes of the dispute. Where urgency is required by the Client or necessitated by the situation, fees are automatically increased by 50%.

In no case may the fees as at 1 January 2026 be less than 180 euros excluding VAT per hour, nor less than the lawyers' fee scale aligned with the scale for provisional administrators, ad hoc administrators and trustees published by the French-speaking Court of First Instance of Brussels on 7 January 2003 (published in the J.T.), indexed to the actual change in the consumer price index (CPI) in Belgium between 2003 and October 2025, according to the official data of Statbel and the National Bank of Belgium.

Art. 12Adjustment of rates

JANSSENS Law Firm invoices its fees and costs on the basis of the aforementioned rates, adjusted to changes in prices and the market, without prior notice.

Art. 13Complaint regarding an invoice

Any complaint regarding an invoice must be sent to JANSSENS Law Firm, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, within 8 days of the invoice; failing this, the invoice shall be irrevocably deemed fully accepted.

Art. 14Joint and several guarantee

By accepting these terms, the directors, agents and beneficial owners stand as joint and several and indivisible guarantors of all present and future commitments of their legal entity in performance of this agreement, and undertake to perform on first demand in the event of a default by that legal entity, up to a maximum amount of 25,000 euros excluding VAT. The guarantor expressly waives the benefit of discussion and the benefit of division, as provided for by the Civil Code.

Art. 15Hardship

If, after the conclusion of the contract, unforeseeable or unforeseen circumstances make the performance by JANSSENS Law Firm, and by the lawyers working on its behalf, of its obligations more difficult or more onerous, JANSSENS Law Firm is authorised to suspend or adjust its obligations to a corresponding extent.

Art. 16Governing law and jurisdiction

Belgian law fully applies to the relationships between JANSSENS Law Firm, the Client and their third-party payer. In the event of a dispute, the French-speaking courts of the judicial district of Brussels shall have sole jurisdiction.

Art. 17Severability

Should any of these clauses, or part of these general terms and conditions, be declared null or inapplicable, all the others shall remain in force.

Version: June 2026. This English text is a courtesy translation; in the event of any discrepancy, the French version prevails.